Game of Thrones - Season VII - July 16-2017

Spoiler

Thanks to those who directed me on how to do this!

 

I haven't been feeling that well so I just kind of left it like @Bender Rodriguez that episode jumped the shark for a number of reasons. I think the posts about last night's episode, for the most part, covers a lot of my criticisms of it. Maybe a few other things; but, hey, in the end, it's fantasy entertainment so you can only criticize so much (despite the fact that previous seasons set expectations MUCH higher than the streamlined storyline we're getting now due to time and budget constraints).

With that said, I'll make some predictions of what will happen in future episodes (no spoilers because I have no idea what's going to happen other than me just thinking about the series a lot) - Here's a SPOILER though: many, if not all, of my predictions will be wrong.

What I think will happen:

It's interesting in that the dragon that was killed, Viserion, was named after the crap brother of Dany, thus easily making it the "evil" dragon that is against the forces of "good" or, better said, the forces that are alive. Viserion will now, more than likely, have the ability to blow ice instead of fire. Ice is key here in that it can be used to either freeze a part of the ocean for the dead to cross or it can be used as a ramp to get to the top of the Wall and then over it with a swarm of Wights using it (and each other) to breach it (I might add that I called it in this thread that Dany would lose one of her dragons; I was right, but I had no idea in the context of how she'd lose it - my thinking was to one of Qyburn's scorpions in a fight with the Lannisters).

Secondly, I predict that the "Iron Throne" will be something that will be no more by the time this series ends. What better thing to be melted down (by dragon fire) and a new way of governing and the device that is used to signify the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms is deemed to be obsolete. Dany is always taking about wanting to "break the wheel"; what better way to do that than destroy the very thing (the throne) that has caused thousands of deaths in Westeros for those to obtain it? Get rid of the damn thing and try and something else; whatever it is.

Thirdly, I don't see Dany or Jon ascending to be the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Maybe after all this, there's only one kingdom to rule after all this craziness. Maybe everybody dies and the land is given over to the White Walkers. I doubt it, but it's possible. I just don't see a happy, predictable ending for this series. Expect something different, in other words. Maybe Dany can't have kids unless it's with another Targaryen (which Jon is) so their spawn goes on to rule; who knows? I do believe that the executive producers of this show were given an outline by GRRM as how he sees this thing ending. How they go about following it (or following it all) is another thing. I think IF the books are ever published (which I highly doubt) the ending will be quite different than what we're going to get in the TV series.

Lastly, let's not be too hard on Jon for all "his" plans failing. To be fair, capturing a wight was NOT his idea; he just insisted on leading it. It wasn't his fault it went crap. It was a terrible idea in the first place; under manned and against impossible odds.

 

Jon still seems to be clinging to his "we'll fight with the army we've got" strategy.

 

I'm not saying anything new here but the timing of events beyond the wall for Jon and the gang....c'mon you couldn't put more of an effort into making it seem a little bit realistic? You have these super courier ULTRA High Speed Ravens that can deliver messages to a specific recipient located 800 miles away in less than a day?? of course this doesn't happen without Usain Bolt running back covering all those hours of hiking in winter conditions in record time. Then Daenerys has to fly all the way up there and locate them?? did the message say look for the mountain that looks like an arrowhead? As goofy and Looney Toonish this episode was I still enjoyed the hell out of it, a white walker dragon?? I can't wait to see what this thing can do.


‘Game of Thrones’ Director Alan Taylor Breaks Down Timeline in ‘Beyond the Wall’


While the “Game of Thrones” episode “Beyond the Wall” had many talking about the insane fight sequences between humans, zombies, and dragons, others were more concerned with gaps in the timeline of the storytelling.

After the episode aired, fans vented frustrations online that Gendry running back to Eastwatch, sending a raven to Daenerys, and Daenerys arriving to save the day with her dragons all happened far too quickly. Alan Taylor, who directed “Beyond the Wall,” explained how the production team approached the timeline during filming.

“We were aware that timing was getting a little hazy,” Taylor told Variety (a little hazy??? or is it lazy?). “We’ve got Gendry running back, ravens flying a certain distance, dragons having to fly back a certain distance…In terms of the emotional experience, [Jon and company] sort of spent one dark night on the island in terms of storytelling moments. We tried to hedge it a little bit with the eternal twilight up there north of The Wall. I think there was some effort to fudge the timeline a little bit by not declaring exactly how long we were there. I think that worked for some people, for other people it didn’t. They seemed to be very concerned about how fast a raven can fly but there’s a thing called plausible impossibilities, which is what you try to achieve, rather than impossible plausibilities. So I think we were straining plausibility a little bit, but I hope the story’s momentum carries over some of that stuff.”

 

I can't help but think back to the very 1st episode, when the budget only allowed for ONE zombie. They made up for it with a rich, dense tale. They told SO much story in that one episode and followed it with an amazing season. It was an adult sword & sorcery story. What's happening now is fun but not nearly as rewarding or satisfying, it's become too Lord Of The Ring-ish!

 

My money is on Bran.

All Sansa / Arya need to do is ask him. I'm sure he can see all the wonderful things Littlefinger did in the past. Like betray their father. for one.

 

Bet I could sell T-shirts with that one.

 

They do have formidable scales, however. Dragonglass scorpion?

 

In that case, it would have been easier to capture Cersei and show her a wight or two.

I enjoyed the episode for the grand spectacle, but I suspect Mr. Martin would have done a better job with the pacing and narrative than the screenwriters that are attempting to fill in the blanks. Makes one wonder what the hurry is to wrap this thing up, as it is showing.

 

I may very well have missed it, but did Dany actually receive the raven message before she decided to fly north, or did she do so unprovoked?

 

She received the message and discussed it with Tyrion, who advised her to ignore it and do nothing. She said she had followed that advice from him before and regretted it. So she didn't make the same mistake. Whether she made a different mistake remains to be seen.

 

The only real problem I had with this week's episode was the blatent ex machina moment after Jon escaped the lake. Lazy, lazy writing.

 

Finding the faults in story telling and logic in this show is like shooting fish in a bucket. I just sit back and enjoy the fun each week.

 

I can live with the timeline stuff. It doesn't add up really, but if you want to, you can squint your eyes and make it work (sorta). For instance, they could have been stranded on that island on the frozen lake much longer than the episode implied. It's a stretch, but, hey...

I do struggle with how an army of the dead found hundreds of yards of giant chains in a frozen tundra to drag a dragon up from the depths (let alone the mechanics of how they accomplished it). I haven't found a rationalization for that one yet. I'll happy accept any one you guys might have.

Still, I liked the episode.

 

Supposedly there was sunken ships in that area and the chains are from the anchors.

 

it's totally fine if you want to do that, but it's also fine for those of us who expect the show to continue to follow it's set precedent of reasonable storytelling rather than jump into hyperdrive and completely ignore logical plotting. this last episode was truly ridiculous; albeit fun to watch.

 

Some random thoughts: The nuance of the first five seasons or so is all but lost as the writers have gone past Martin's story. I find it to be every bit as entertaining, but in a more tradional Hollywood fashion.

On Sansa and Arya: I too hate what's happening between them. My only hope is Arya is simply playing Sansa to bring down Little Finger. If her actions towards Sansa aren't for a greater purpose, then it's all a bit ridiculous. I find it hard to swallow that Arya would be so easily fooled by Little Finger's games.

On the whight hunt beyond the wall: a remarkably dumb plan. Is it possible that the Night King can see aspects of the future (as Bran can), knew the dragons would come, and only allowed Snow and the gang to live to catch a dragon?

Too much foreshadowing on Daenerys's inability to get pregnant, clearly her and Snow will have a baby? But how is there time for that?

 

Great band!

 

It had a "set precedent of reasonable story telling" once?

So I guess some find it unreasonable when the producers condense the timeline and include consequently more WTF moments per hour than usual. I don't find it unreasonable or any indicator of a slip in quality. Yes the producers are rushing things along which is regrettable on one hand (less interesting dialog), but good in that the story is actually moving along. Still it's fine with me if you want to pick apart the inconsistencies and logic lapses. It's still my favorite show at this time.

 

But why did things have to be rushed at this point? Seems the 7 & 6 episode limits for these last two seasons were both arbitrary and unnecessary.

 

(He makes the 'rubbing-of-his-thumb-tip-over-his-finger-tips' to indicate 'money')

 

Me too.

Good question.

 

It's unfortunate that the "time crunch" issue is so prevalent in a few episodes this season, which is understandable considering that this series is going to end in 7 episodes and the writer's have to cram a lot of story telling. But they could have done a normal 10 episode season 7 and flesh out some of the episodes i.e., give the episodes some breathing room for good story telling, (character development e.g, Arya and Sansa / Cercei and Jaime / Dany and Jon)) and logical time of events (i.e., Dany rushing to attack the Lannister convoy with her Dothraki army with lightening speed) etc. Then for season 8 finish off the remaining series with 6 or 7 episodes (depending on how many lose ends the writers have to tie off. I know it's all about money, money, money, but this is what we get when each episode is specifically budgeted for a certain amount, the season is shorter, and the story is rushed. Too bad because there are millions of loyal game of thrones fans from around the world who dedicated themselves on this journey because of the solid writing, logic, story telling, characters etc. Regardless of the direction the series has taken due to the incomplete books, i'm still taking it all in and loving each episode. Like those last pieces of rich chocolate, you just want to savor every last mouthful.

 

Remember, it could always be worse!